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Tyler Hunnex - I started/founded/began Let's Go Birds in September of 2007 after feeling like my favorite Junior Hockey team needed more discussion and analysis. I'm statistically minded, forever frustrated by the Tbirds and my all-time favorite player was #10. I think I'm funny and my writing would probably disagree. Follow me on Twitter @TylerHunnex.

Jon Whiting - Jon joined the Let's Go Birds team in the summer of 2013. His passion for the Thunderbirds is as big as any fan I've ever met. His two kids are named after former Tbirds and his favorite all-time players were Patrick Marleau and Olaf "Ole" Kjenstad, who he swears is the best pure scoring Tbird ever.

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2.07.2012

General Thoughts

The season is officially starting to wear on me. I'm finding it
less and less useful to write about the same things game after game as this
team slowly slips out of the playoff race. Seattle is, of course, still in the
playoff picture but the current 6 game losing streak has them holding on by a
thread. The good news is that Victoria, Prince George and Everett have played
only various degrees of "slightly better" and the Tbirds still hold a
4 point lead over the Cougars and a 5 point lead over Everett. Rather than try
to recap the last couple of games, here are some general observations:

The
team's effort lately has been pretty darn good and that is kind of a good-news/bad-news
situation. The good news is that the team doesn't appear to be quitting on
the season and they have had some fair chances to win some games. The
bad news is that they have lost in spite of their
decent efforts. The other bad news is that the "good effort"
really only applies to a small handful of players on the team while some
other players appear to be content to just let the season play out.

One
player who has been excellent lately is Connor Honey. If you can believe
this... check this out. 17 year old Connor Honey who joined the team in
the middle of the season, now has 4 goals, 5 assists and a -6 in 26 games.
Colin Jacobs, our heralded and drafted 18 year old out of Texas who had 44
points last season... has 5 goals, 4 assists and a -15 in 25 games. Honey
has been on the receiving end of more and more ice time both at even
strength and on the power play and has tallied 6 points in his last 6
games. The mistakes are still going to happen but he appears to be getting
more comfortable with each passing game. He reads the play well and has
what scouts call good "hockey IQ".

Another
guy who has played very solid over the past 6 weeks and deserves to get a
mention has got to be Cason Machacek. At the beginning of the year,
Machacek was spending far too much time in the penalty box for the wrong
reasons. Through the end of November, Machacek had logged 17 games with 54
penalty minutes and a -7 rating. Since that point he has played in 23
games with 59 penalty minutes with a rating of Even and he has even
chipped in 2 goals and an assist. He has been as steady as them come since
the Christmas break.

I
see fans both online and at the games questioning why Jacob Doty isn't
playing. It hurts me to say this but the reason why he isn't playing is
because he just isn't very good. Doty is fearless when it comes to
fighting and his willingness to stick up for teammates is admirable. Right
or wrong, this team is desperately trying to win games right now and Doty
is just mostly taking up a bench spot waiting for his chance to drop the
gloves. Recently, there was an article written about Emerson Etem by
Kelly Friesen where Etem talked about all of the time he spent in the
offseason working on his skating and working diligently on his stops and
starts. This is what Doty will have to do if he wants to become a regular
on this team and in this league.

Where
is Burke Gallimore?

Where
is Luke Lockhart?

Things
aren't going to get any easier for Seattle as they have traveled to
Kelowna for a game tomrrow before returning back to Spokane for Friday
night and finally back home for Portland on Saturday. It is becoming
difficult to see where the Tbirds are going to be able to get points the
rest of the way.

I wish I had more to say but this team is getting increasingly
difficult to "cover" as the season winds down.

27 comments
:

Anonymous
said...

As usual, great post Tyler. It's very depressing watching the boys play so hard and come away with nothing. But at least I am feeling bad for them and not pissed off at them! Awww, the bright side of a bad situation!

Sooner or later with hard work, the team will get some big wins. But I think Pickard needs some rest, playing him in 3 straight days 2 weeks ago, and then 3 games in 4 nites this past weekend is pushing it!!

Totally agree with you about Doty - I love it when he's on the ice because anything can happen...but he's just not good at hockey. And I don't know what's happened to Elliot this year. Such a nice kid and the last couple years he really seemed like he was on track to develop into a decent player, but this year - unremarkable. Seems like they're getting some really effective lines (Lund/Alos/Hickman, Honey/Troock/Rouse) which are starting to produce...I'm just afraid we'll run out of season!

I don't blame the players; even though they do play hard for one or two periods. They just don't have the talent that the rest of the league has. Now, blaming the organization that is a different story. I'm tired of the losing and losing at home is especially difficult to take.

Ya I agree that They may not have the talent that some of these other team do but they will in the near future. On the back end hauf and Theodore are only sixteen and Theodore shows he has the ability at times to be offensive, Cotton looks decent enough I still think we may need another goalie next year, up front Hickman Alos and Lund are a force and honey and rouse are playing really well together trook has the ability to pass but chooses not to witch hurts that line at times I think one of the bigger problems is the vets need to find a way to get going Jacobs has lots of skill ,Lockhart battles hard but a -4 last game ?, don't even know what to say about Burke it's upsetting on a positive note the powerplay is looking a little bit better aswell

Next time you get frustrated with the kids on this team take 5 minutes & watch the video of them at the childrens hospital. You'll realize they are just good kids trying to do their best at hockey & life everyday!!!!!

This is NOT a competitive team by any stretch of the imagination. This organization hasn't put a team on the ice that can compete for the title in over a decade. Just because they continually lose by 1 or 2 goals doesn't make them competitive.Other competitive teams can play 4 lines against this team and play younger players more minutes vs. the T-Birds. Nobody has to "get up" to play the T-Birds. They are just kids and they do try hard but the ownership of this team is not motivated to put a winner on the ice, if they were Russ would no longer be a part of the front office. He is an owner and G.M. and will have his hands in player choices and will pick a coach with no previous head coaching experience because no coach with a resume worth anything will coach for him.

You know, no matter what anyone might think of Russ I doubt that he doesn't want to win. Why would he put up all the money to buy the team, work to move the team to a great facility and want to miss the playoffs 3 years running? I think clearly the team has been mis-managed - last year ieveryone was blaming Rob, now it is Russ - although to be fair people were Russ-bashing last year and there is continued grumbling about scouting. To say this is Russ' fault is one thing, as GM he is where the buck stops - right? But to asset that he does not want to win is ludicrous. This is frustrating for fans, I imagine it is more frustrating for players and team management. I too would like to see a shake up at the top, unfortunately I don't think we have a say in that.

When it takes 8 years to fire a coach that was never qualified to be coach to begin with. Or make any changes to an organization that has been nothing more than dismal at best the last decade. Replace that coach with another coach with zero head coaching experience..... I don't see how you make the asumption he wants to win. The facts seem to say different

Thanks for your post Tyler. I also feel your pain. Tough. As for Russ and management, I think the team was in a very tight financial bind after ownership changed hands and when Rob was put in. The moves made to Kent I think helped to shore them up financially, but it seems that in the meantime the internal workings were weakened. Now they have their dollar signs back in a row, they brought on a coach, albeit, without head coaching experience, but certainly a greater depth in hockey knowledge that likely came at a higher price tag. It sounds like a broken record to say "wait and see" but I do see how in the next few years there could be a turn around. Not sure how many fans the team will have left, but I have to believe that management wants to get deep into that playoff hunt more than any of us. Just think of the dollars that brings in to them.

wow...after tonight's game in Spokane I am having second thoughts in having Lacey neighborhood father and sons night out at the game. Four neighbors and five kids...jeez, can these kids play a complete game?

We can't blame the kids. It is the management that needs to be blamed. The talent is not there. We are hoping for a playoff spot with a losing record? Seriously? Is this what the organization is teaching these kids? Old news, it's time for the GM to say goodbye...we have been rebuilding for three years now. When will it end?

This team is certainly frustating. I have been watching the breakers/tbirds for 30 years and seen good, great, poor and terrible play. To me, this team lacks charcter and toughness, mental toughness to compete night in and night out. Obviously there is a talent gap between the best teams and the Tbirds, but this team can make the playoffs and that should be motivation to play hard. Who knows what happens in the playoffs, but these group of players seem indifferent in making the consistent effort. Sure you will lose games, but show passion and energy. Look at Everett, they were left for dead but their team continues to fight. We need the character in this team to rise, the will to compete and to play hard for themselves. This team should be better than they are. This team has an opportunity to grow but only if they can show some resillence over the next month. As mentioned previously by others, I think Farwell needs to remove himself from the GM duties, I think a new view from the top needs to occur. But also these players have to take it upon themselves to want to make the playoffs and to do what it takes. It appears they are resigned to being a defeated team. The reality is they still have a lot to play for, come on Boys we know you can do it.

Between the economy, high ticket prices, and poor play I wonder how many season ticketholders will abandon this team after this season. I'm certainly at the end of my rope.

I've heard the "but if you give up your season tickets the team may get better and you will miss out." Hogwash. Have you seen how few attend the games now? If I dump my season tickets and decide to renew a few seasons down the road I will have no trouble getting tickets again.

We have been suffering for the most part for 15 freeking years. Yes when you lose good players you suffer however we actually have lots of older players on this team, and if we are suffering now do to loss of older players why did we suffer last year.

I have to agree with Trent's Dad as I was driving past the Showare Center and back to Lacey that when will the rebuilding END! I never bought season tickets, can't afford them. I have bought the flex ticket package last year and was disappointed. This year when they called I told them maybe. They were supposed to call back a week later...a call that never came. In the three games we seen this year, unlike the dozens that we attended last year with the flex and paying for additional prices, we were happy with one game. The ticket prices are expensive for the product that is being put out on ice. The rebuilding has to stop sometime.

How can the rebuilding stop when there is constant tunover just by the nature of the beast? Players are only here on average 3 years. You will always be rebuilding your roster at this level of hockey. I believe what you mean is the comstant below average rebuilding that is occuring. If this team wants to stop being b*tch slapped by Portland 12 times a season they better make hay with all these upcoming high draft picks, otherwise they'll keep losing 25-35 games each year to the likes of Portland, Tri and Spokane making this franchise irelevant. Farwell isn't stupid. He has to know his organization's drafting has been mediocre at best the last 5 years. You can't average 2-3 players per draft making it and be successful. You need to draft at a minimum 4-5 players each year who can play high level hockey in the WHL. I just hope he's actively trying to solve that problem because if they have a couple more average to below average draft classes with all these high picks they've acquired he'll become more of a pariah then many fans already make him out to be. He needs to find out what Bob Tory's secret to success is because the organizations are similarly constructed (Like Farwell Tory is an part owner/GM). Forget the Portland model, can't compete with the league's richest owner when it comes to convincing certain players to come play for your team($$$).

I just hope we win at least one home game this calendar year. The ShoWare Center is the best place to watch a hockey game.... If you are not a T-birds fan. I remember a time in hockey when your "rival" team embarrassed you in your own arena you showed some sort of pride or toughness. Now it seems players just put their heads down and go through the motions. I'm fine with a player not wanting to fight but at least play out the game and show you enjoy playing hockey. Stop giving ice time to these players and give it to those that want to go out and be competitive. I hope those players that still want to be here step up and play hard the rest of the year.